PublicBroadcasting.ca

This blog is moving. I have registered publicbroadcasting.ca and have found a host for it. There is no hard and fast deadline yet, but it will be a matter of days, rather than weeks or months before it is publicly launched. I do not plan on being the sole contributor to it though. I hope that this site will become many things.

First and foremost it will be an advocate for public broadcasting in Canada - not just the CBC but all public broadcasters. It is not the intent to undercut Our Public Airwaves or Friends or Canadian Broadcasting but to promote them.

The site will monitor news related to public broadcasting and advocate for better managed, better funded, more representative and regional Canadian Public Broadcasters as well as advocate for the ideal of public broadcasting and the promotion of Canadian content and Canadian culture.

The site will also be a of a broadcaster or sorts, actually more of a narrowcaster, in and of itself. PublicBroadcasting.ca will host and link to blogs and other writing, podcasts, video, and even music that meets the criteria of 'about Canadians, by Canadians, for Canadians'. The contributors to this can be in public broadcasting, students hoping to one day be in public broadcasting or they can be people operating independently who are, in their own way, doing public broadcasting. This content does not have to be 'about' public broadcasting, just about Canadians and can fall into the categories of News and editorial, Arts and Entertainment, culture, etc., So long as it does not go AGAINST the basic principle of advocating for public broadcasting.

Contributors can also, if there is a need, publish anonymously or under a pen name. Content will only be rejected if it violates the basic spirit with which it is constructed, or because of space concerns, (although there is a great amount of space to start with so this is not currently an issue) or because of legal concerns.

One other thing the site can and will do is host listservs and other forums and anyone who wants/needs one will be able to sign up for a @publicbroadcasting.ca email account that can be accessed through your computer's email program (outlook, Mac Mail etc) or via the web from anywhere.

When the CBC Lockout occured there was a great amount of confusion. People lost the use of their cell phones, their CBC.CA email accounts, and scrambled to find each other again and to organize themselves to resist the attack by management on Canada's national public broadcaster. Should this situation ever arise again there will be no confusion, the employees of the CBC and their supporters will be in contact and organized to fight back from the moment they are escorted from the building.

There is no intention, at this point, to involve money in this. The hosting so far comes to very little, if demand for bandwidth becomes too great or if it should reach the point where it needs a real (full time, non-volunteer) staff to maintain the site then finance will obviously need to be explored but, that's not an issue at the moment.

If you would like to be involved in any way, if you have any suggestions, feedback, questions etc., please leave comments below or contact me here: contact@justinbeach.com . Otherwise, stay tuned for updates.

CBCUnlocked not locking up.

Contrary to the rumors there is currently no plan to fold up CBCUnlocked. From a reliable source

the CBCUnlocked crew is still going strong, despite talk of folding our laptops for good today, Friday. We are gearing up for a "The Puck Stops Here" all-hockey blowout in time for Wednesdays NHL season opener. Tom Harrington is our Editor-in-Chief. Submissions welcome!

Meet Up pt. 2

Last night's meet up was not quite what I expected. There were too many people, spread over too large an area to have a single conversation. However, in smaller groups, we did stick to the proposed topic(s). I also understand, though not from Tod himself, that there was some hostility to the idea of recording the conversation on how to apply what we've learned outside to build a better CBC and giving it to management.

I find it very unfortunate that this did not happen. It's something that I think many in management need to hear. The argument, apparently, was that as long as we're locked out we shouldn't do anything to help them. I understand people's feelings on this but at the same time; while we may be in a state of mutiny right now, we do not want to sink the ship. If the CBC goes down, we all go with it.

At any rate, while it was not a single conversation there seemed to be consensus on several points (at least amoung those I talked to.)

1) Blogging and podcasting are here to stay and video podcasting is coming. There are already cell phones and iPod like devices that handle video, and there will be more. Long before most people have a HD television, most (or at least a great many) will have mobile devices that handle phone calls, email, play music and video files.

2) Once this lockout is over CBC's lawyers need to spend the next 16 months on internet clearances for all of CBC's content - in short everything we still have copies of radio and television inclusive.

3) The CBC will have to start producing alot more content, though as the lockout has shown this need not be terribly expensive.

While the traditional radio, television and cbc.ca audiences will still be there (assuming we can get them back), in the year 2012 a good part of our audience may work something like this:

Joe gets on the commuter train, he sits down, flips open his phone and checks his email where he also gets the latest headlines from CBC.ca, he watches last nights National on the screen. Joe skips over the ads with the press of a button. (say goodbye to most ad revenue). When a story appears about wildfires in BC Joe is interested because he is on his way to the airport to board a plane to BC so he clicks on a link on his screen and goes to the blog or podcast from the reporter covering the BC fires to get the latest update. The toddler next to Joe is restless so he then switches his phone/tv over to CBCKids to appease the toddler so that he can take a nap before he gets to the airport. On the plane Joe has to close his internet connection, so he listens to his favorite CBC radio shows (which he archived to the MP3 player the night before). He also might watch some episodes of This Hour has 22 minutes which he pulled from the archives.

This is not science fiction, it is going to happen, and it likely will happen before 2012. If you don't believe me, have a look at the MIT Oxygen Project . Everyone ready?

Security AND Flexibility?

I'm sure better, and more legalistic minds than mine are working on all of the issues surrounding the new contract but, just to throw out some food for thought what if - current staff remained as it was and new hires worked like this:

The first year is probationary, you can be let go for any reason during the first year, call it a no-fault trial run.

After the first year you become staff, but it doesn't mean forever: You work on 5 year contracts, during that five years there are peer reviews (under a system instituted by management) and supervisor reviews. Every 5 years someone (preferably a panel) sits down with accumulated (anonymous) peer reviews, as well as manager/supervisor reviews and based on those alone decides whether to renew you or not. 5 years worth of accumulated reviews averaged out should rule out your being dismissed based on - discrimination, bad chemistry with a single person (or a few), any temporary rough patches in your life, etc. Continual bad scores on these assessments are the only reason you can be denied renewal.

Additionally each year you are required to attend, for example, 25 (minimum) and 50 (maximum) hours of skills training, this is counted as work time and paid for by the corp. What skills you work on is established by conversations between the employee, their supervisor and human resources and are based, in part, on the assessed future needs of the corporation. This should insure that the current workforce is sufficiently skilled and flexible to meet the future needs of the CBC, even if the role they are currently employed in should become redundant or obsolete and will provide an opportunity for workers to expand their skill set and take on new challenges.

Despite the 5 year 'contract' these employees are treated as 'staff' with full pension and benefits.

Democracy Inaction

Since all of this began, I have heard a great many complaints - about the CBC, the Government, and even the CMG (though I won't name names of give quotes). I would just like to point out, to the members of CMG, that all of these things belong to you. The CMG belongs in total to you and the Government and the CBC belong to you as much as they belong to any other Canadian.

If you are unhappy with the Guild, talk to your union reps, go to Guild meetings, vote in guild elections and if you can't find a candidate you like in the Guild elections, run yourself. If you are unhappy with the Government, or the way the CBC is being run, write to, call, go out and meet your MP, the Heritage Minister or whoever it is that you are unhappy with. Tell your friends, family, neighbors, the people at your class reunion - or whoever else you can find and have them do the same.

Ask them to appoint people to the board with a history in and demonstrated dedication to public broadcasting, ask the board to appoint the same kind of people to management positions. Ask the Government to fund the CBC in proportion to it's importance to Canadian culture.

In short, if your level of involvement consists of complaining to your spouse, partner, parents, coworkers, cat etc., nothing will happen. People cannot represent your views if they do not know your views. It can be alot of work making your views known, you have to decide if the amount of grief caused by not having your views represented is worth the work involved.

I'll try again

I had thought that I would comment on the new Management offer but got bogged down with updates to the CMGToronto Photo Gallery and, sadly, the Fond Farewell page. Then, no sooner had I finished that than the offer was unceremoniously shot down So, now that we're back where we started, I'll comment on something else I've been thinking about in a bit.

More guarded optimism

Again, It may be undue optimism but it sounds as if Fontana has given the negotiators something like a 48 hour deadline to get a deal done. I don't know how realistic that time frame is after 16 months of failing to negotiate, but even if they exceed that time limit somewhat I can't help but feel that a deal is approaching. The alternative would likely be binding arbitration and I don't think that either side really wants that.

Much has also been made today of Rabinovich's refusal to participate in the negotiations and so I need to chime in briefly. The entire issue of 'contract vs. staff' was supposed to be part of Rabinovich's vision for the future of the CBC, but since this started he has been absent. He has made no attempt to get the people he locked out, managers inside the building (or so I've heard) or the Canadian public to understand this vision, understand what it is or given us any reason to buy into it. He has made few public comments at all about the situation, he has completely ignored calls for his resignation from outside and inside the CBC and now he has refused to be a part of the negotiations or to have further meetings with the Minister of Labour. I can only assume that Rabinovich does not feel that he has a stake in any of this, which would lead me to believe that a resignation is coming at some point after the doors are open.

Once a deal is actually done there is still one more major hurdle to overcome and that is ratification. I don't think, after everything that has happened, that anyone is in a mood to simply rubber stamp anything that comes out of negotiations. That said, and again this may be overly optimistic, I can't help but feel that the negotiators are aware of that and won't come back with something that is going to be voted down.

Once that is done, the real challenge begins. CMG's membership, whether they wholeheartedly support the union or not, has pulled together admirably, supported each other selflessly, and shown amazing initiative, creativity, determination and resourcefulness during the lockout. People in locations, urban and rural from one end of Canada to another have shown amazing dedication to their co-workers and to the mission and mandate of the CBC.

Once the doors are open, we must find a way to bring that same energy inside and, without skipping a beat, put it to work for the Canadian people with the full resources of the CBC. I'm not, in any way, trying to imply that people at the CBC don't normally work hard but, in the case of the lock out, most of the damage was done long before August 15. We cannot be caught sleeping again. We have to monitor and have an opinion, at times a vocal one, about board appointments and managerial hirings. We must get the MPs who supported CMG during the lockout, and some who were reluctant to get involved to push for a better, and stable, funding model for the CBC.

We have to connect with our audience in a way that not only brings back the viewers we had before the lockout, but that brings in new ones, and earns their loyalty, trust and respect. I think that part of this involves talking with and not simply to the audience (just one small lesson from the lockout.) I am only a 'casual' and I don't have, or pretend to have all of the answers, I don't know the ingredients of the magic formula, but I do know that in spite of the hardships that what has happened 'on the line' has at times been nothing less than magical - and the CBC, now damaged and abandoned by many could use some magic.

I'll be posting some more thoughts on this later on the CBC Renewal discussion group (and yes I probably will keep plugging it) and still more after Thursday's meetup (which is like a meeting, but with beer, wine and food) "From Blogs to Podcasts: Technology and the Future of the CBC."

Guarded optimism and New Beginnings

I honestly don't know if we are near the end of the lock out or not. The pressure surely is increasing on both sides to reach a settlement. I won't rehash all of the events in and around Parliament today, those have all been pretty thoroughly blogged and guessed about elsewhere. I will add that it appears that there may be an emergency debate in the house of commons as early as tomorrow. It appears that it is being pushed for by members of both the Liberal and NDP party. I do not have many details at this point but if you are interested in what I do know, please drop me an email .

Parliament aside for the moment, I have started to consider what happens after the lockout on a much more regular basis. This is due, in part, to Tod Maffin's planned get together on Thursday which should be very interesting. It is due, in part, to not knowing if I will be able to return to the CBC. But, beyond those things I picture what I see happening when the lockout is over - lingering tension and hostility between some in management and staff which could create an unproductive and uncomfortable environment. I also picture what needs to be done when this is over, which is alot of teamwork, brainstorming, hard work to recapture CBC's lost audience and make the CBC even stronger than before.

The Lockout Yahoo group I created on September second has served it's purpose well in the sharing of resources and information. But, it was always fated to be short term in nature, one day the lockout will end and then there are real challenges ahead - in many ways challenges greater than the lockout itself. To this end, I am going to attempt to do it again.

CBC Renewal

The purpose of this group is to monitor and comment on the politics surrounding the CBC, including financing, appointments to the board, appointments to senior management by the board, and other issues involving the present and future of the CBC.

Additionally, it is to share information, resources, knowledge and ideas on how to make the CBC better, stronger, and more relevant and dedicated to its mandate than ever before.

It is hoped that improved communication can help to avoid future labour disputes as well as prevent questions about whether or not the CBC is needed and wanted in Canada. To help insure free and open communication, this group is being established outside the control of the CBC itself. Anyone who wishes to participate is welcome.

The purpose of the new group is not to discuss the lockout itself, to keep score on the lockout, or to vent lingering resentment. It is for people, whoever they are, who want a better, stronger, CBC and anyone who is interested in building that is welcome. If you are interested go here.

Divination

I don't know what the future holds for me personally. There are no guarantees whatsoever that when the lockout is over that I will be going back. I am, as I've said, a casual and had no guarantees at the best of times.

I think though that once all of this will over, it will be one of the scariest and most exciting times in CBC history, certainly recent history. The CBC is going to have to come back better and stronger than ever. It's staffers are going to have to be creative and inventive and someone is going to have to figure out how, and why blogs, podcasts, streaming media and other low/no cost technology have helped in making the lockout one of the highest rated and most talked about events in recent CBC history.

To this end, Tod Maffin is organizing a meet up at Casey's on Front Street in Toronto this Thursday to discuss technology and the future of the CBC and such topics as

Should our shows have their own blog?
Should hosts directly post on them?
How do we interactively dialogue with our audience (i.e. not talkback)
Should reporters blog in the field?
Should we be using information from external blogs on air?
How do we journalistically verify photos sent from cameraphones?

I think all of this is interesting and worth discussing, and I have some other ideas as well, I think that non journalists and non hosts have a role to play in all of this as well, but before Thursday I would like to hear from as many people as possible. If you can't be there on Thursday but have some ideas about these topics, please send them along and I'll bring your comments with me.

Feel free to use the comments section of this blog or contact me at contact@justinbeach.com.

P.S. If there are typos in here, and it seems shorter than it needs to be please accept my apologies - I have an accidental disagreement with some glass and the bandages on my hand are negatively impacting my typing skills.

-J